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WWF plans to return wild tigers back to their historical range in the lli-Balkhash region.

Project involves restoration of forest

Wild tigers will return to Kazakhstan almost a century after becoming extinct in the country, World Wildlife Fund (WWF) has confirmed.

The plan is to return the iconic cats back to their historical range in the lli-Balkhash region by restoring a huge area of forest that is part of the tiger’s historical range.

If all goes to plan, Kazakhstan will be the first country in Central Asia to implement such a paramount and large-scale program. To date, tiger relocation projects have only been successful within national borders and in areas that are already considered current tiger habitats.

On Friday (September 8), the Republic of Kazakhstan signed a memorandum with WWF to implement the joint tiger reintroduction plan.

Returning the tigers will be no mean feat. Working together, WWF and the government of Kazakhstan will tackle poaching and illegal activities, train and equip rangers, create thriving prey populations and engage local communities.

The reintroduction will play a part in the Tx2 initiative - a project to double the wild tiger population by 2022. Involving 123of the world’s tiger range countries, the initiative is described as ‘the most ambitious conservation effort ever attempted for a single species’.

In the last century, global wild tiger populations have fallen by 96 per cent, from 100,000 to as little as 3,890 in 2016. By the 1960s, wild tigers had completely disappeared from Central Asia due to habitat loss and uncontrolled hunting and poaching.

Natural England has announced a new scheme to improve flood protection, boost wildlife and create 160 hectares of new saltmarsh. The £6 million scheme in Lancashire will effectively unite the RSPB’s Hesketh Out Marsh Reserve and Natural England’s Ribble Estuary National Nature Reserve. The completed reserve will be the largest site of its kind in the north of England.

Students and ethics experts will host an event on the difficult moral challenges facing vets. Ethical issues, such as euthanasia and breeding animals for certain physical traits, will be discussed by prominent speakers including TV vet Emma Milne and RSPCA chief vet James Yeates. Other topics will include how to tackle suspected animal abuse and the extent of surgical intervention.

The conference will look at how these dilemmas affect the wellbeing of vets, and explore how to better prepare veterinary students for work. It will be held at the University of Edinburgh’s Easter Bush Campus from 30 September - 1 October 2017. Tickets can be purchased here.